Are you overseeing your social media spending?

Managing costs is one of the main reasons a company will invest in accounting software and other technologies, as they look to achieve a better understanding of how their organisation is tracking.

However, new research suggests that when it comes to some technology - notably social media - small businesses are finding their costs unmanageable and are stepping back from social media all together.

That's the finding from the most recent survey from Sensis, which has explored the way Australian businesses are using social media. The research revealed that a majority (57 per cent) aren't sure whether they have actually received a return on investment from their social media efforts.

Part of the reason for this is a lack of knowledge about how much they were spending on a social media presence to begin with. In fact, 49 per cent of SMEs are completely unaware how much they are investing in social media. Only 16 per cent were found to be actively monitoring their return on investment from a social presence.

There is also a significant gap when it comes to the amount of content being published on social media. Larger firms are publishing to social sites at least once a day, while SMEs are more likely to be publishing weekly.

Finally, many businesses simply aren't building a presence on social media - below the ownership rate of the population as a whole. According to the study, only a quarter of SMEs have a social media presence, well behind both larger organisations (30 per cent) and the general public (68 per cent).

While social media is clearly an issue that small businesses will need to manage, these points also hint at what it takes to be successful online. By tracking their spending carefully and posting regularly, small organisations will be much better placed to make the most of this exciting opportunity.